Posts tagged ‘soft dollar’

So I’ve been having electrical problems with my car. Nothing to stop it from going after it’s been started but it’s been hell on the battery. Went through all of these different things trying to fix it myself, consulted with folks more knowledgeable than I about cars, and spent a good chunk of change.

Well from a very simple suggestion, check the battery clamps, came the solution to the problem. I had already visually checked them but hadn’t actually tried to just simply pull them off. Come to find out that the ground cable was snug enough to look like it was seated correctly but still loose enough not to make a solid connection. Translation, ground not connected battery doesn’t charge.

End result, $3 for a decent batter clamp, some time to get it on and reconnected and what appears to be no more battery issue. – oh, and a good set of emergency roadside equipment now.
Now a bring this up not to astound you with my glorious mechanical skills, because they aren’t, but to point out something I think we all forget to do from time to time. – _Focus on the details_.

If I had of just taken 30 seconds longer to tug the cables instead of doing a visual inspection I would of saved myself a lot of time, effort and money.

So how does this translate into content creation, design, comics, publishing, epublishing, well anything actually? Take that extra 30 seconds to get your hands on it instead of just looking at it. You may find that you missed something that will not only make your life better but your fellow readers, viewers, what have you, as well.

Google+ Twittering

I expect to be reading in all the various Negative Nancy articles about Google+ of how it’s copying Twitter now. Well perhaps Google Plus is, in a way, but a good idea is a good idea. Just ask Facebook about all the things they’ve copied from Google+, Twitter, MySpace and some of the other outside of the U.S. social networks they’ve copied from.

Does Google Plus Need Hashtags?

The short answer is no, Google+ does not need hashtagging. The Search Google+ box does just fine. That being said, I still think it’s good idea. Makes it a lot easier to find topic chains and has the potential to inspire some people to dig deeper in the topic chain.

How Does Google+ Hashtags Benefit a Designer?

Internally, perhaps it doesn’t benefit a designer inside of a typical company. Outside though, now that’s a completely different situation.

Here’s a what if

You have a project that you’re sharing publicly through Google+. You want a way to not only keep it organized but a way for those folks who have you circled to be able dig down deeper and follow your topic thread. Even better, someone new comes along and thinks your project is just the ultimate spiffy wow. Now, instead of using one of the alternative methods all they have to do is click on the #hashtag and they can follow the topic chain you’ve conveniently set up for them.

So no, Google Plus doesn’t need Twitter style hashtagging but it’s a damn good idea and very useful.

Update: Got word from Altay Akgun that the hashtag link conversion doesn’t work on the iPhone ap. You can still use the hashtagging like targeted keywords for the iPhone ap though.

I’d like to say that the music for the above presentations is pretty kick ass. The team that put it together did an excellent job designing the marketing presentation of the new dynamic templates for Google’s Blogger. The beauty of the presentation doesn’t eclipse the beauty of the new Blogger dynamic templates but it does neglect to mention that there’s not a whole lot you can do with it.

My Opinion

By now you’ve probably heard about Search for Google+. You’re also probably familiar with hashtagging. You’ve also most likely heard about the one-upmanship FaceBook has been attempting to keep pace with Google Plus features. You also are most likely painfully aware of the lack of business pages on Google+, currently my only real complaint about Google+.

What This All Means

FaceBook – suck it up and keep on using the crap they are pushing out to fast to try and keep up with Google+. Hopefully FaceBook will get it right and the people that are going to stay will benefit from the Google+ innovations that FaceBook is copying.

Lack of Google+ Pages – create profiles as real people and interact with your potential clients as people instead of just leads. I’ve interacted with people as just a normal person sharing conversational stuff as well as about 42wd Publishing. Until the business pages come this is the best we can do for now while staying within the Terms of Use.

Search for Google+ – love it and embrace it. I’ve been doing some of my own experiments with it and talked to others who have been experimenting with it as well. Here’s what I’ve come up with. Take it, use it, make it better and then share it with me and others.

The fantasy of having the capacity to drive to work in a solar-powered car is at last turning into a reality. Sono Motors simply uncovered the SION solar-powered electric car gives you the ability to travel up to 18 miles utilizing only energy from the sun. Best of all, the SION isn’t only for the ...

When you are lighting your patio the exact opposite thing you need to do is to be stumbling over electrical lines and attempting to put lights close to an outlet to connect them to. Assuming, notwithstanding, you ran with solar lights you wouldn’t have this issue. Solar lights take their power from the sun, store ...

AwesomeWeb is the latest freelance job site to enter the market. It is a “marriage” of the teams behind 1stWebDesigner and IncomeDiary. They claim AwesomeWeb is an attractive alternative to the existing freelance job sites out there. How? By matching a select group of web designers and developers to higher quality projects. In theory, it [...] The post New […]

Today we’re giving you a sneak peek inside our “Anatomy Of A $9,750 Website Build.” This will give you an opportunity to see actual lessons from the training we have available. These previews will each feature an entire lesson from the training, including everything you’ll get when you sign up. We hope this will give you a [...] The post Client Interaction F […]